Mastodawn

William Lindsey

""MAGA uses hunger as a political weapon. Starving children is a new low.

Donald Trump, like autocrats around the globe, is weaponizing food supply. He is prepared to let more than 40 Million Americans go hungry to pressure Democrats to capitulate on the shutdown and accede to his plan to snatch health insurance away from tens of millions of people."

~ Jennifer Rubin

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
/1

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/maga-uses-hunger-as-a-political-weapon

MAGA Uses Hunger as a Political Weapon

Starving children is a new low

The Contrarian

William Lindsey

"The official website of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) claims that on November 1, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will run out of funding. ...

But 'the well' has not 'run dry' on SNAP. The program has a reserve of about $6 billion that could fully fund SNAP for several more weeks."

~ Judd Legum, Rebecca Crosby, and Noel Sims

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
/2

https://popular.info/p/choosing-to-let-kids-go-hungry

Choosing to let kids go hungry

The USDA asserts that Democrats are blocking funding to secure “health care for illegal immigrants” and funding for “gender mutilation procedures.” All of these claims are false.

Popular Information

William Lindsey

"The USDA’s current position is that these funds 'are not legally available to cover regular benefits' and can only be used to provide nutrition assistance in response to a national disaster or other emergency.

This, however, directly contradicts guidance that the USDA issued on September 30 which explicitly states that contingency funds can be used for regular benefits."

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
/3

William Lindsey

"Food insecurity can be especially detrimental to children. In a lawsuit filed this week by a group of state officials against the Trump administration, state officials wrote that food insecurity and hunger can cause 'poor concentration, decreased cognitive function, fatigue, depression, and behavioral problems' in children."

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
/4

William Lindsey

"A lack of SNAP benefits can even affect children’s test scores, with a 2018 study from Duke University finding that children on SNAP saw their lowest test scores at the end of the month, when SNAP benefits commonly run out."

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty
/5

William Lindsey

"Thousands of military families won’t receive federal food assistance next month as the government shutdown impacts funding to fight food insecurity. ...

'The military families who rely on SNAP benefits are probably the most vulnerable in our community,' [Eileen] Huck said."

~ Nicholas Slayton

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty #military
/6

https://taskandpurpose.com/military-life/snap-benefits-troops-food/

As federal food assistance runs out, junior troops with families may be hit hard

SNAP benefits won't go out in November, which may put military families experiencing food insecurity at risk.

Task & Purpose

William Lindsey

"''They’re predominantly younger families, junior enlisted troops, they’re families who are already struggling financially, and to lose these benefits is really going to put them at risk of severe hardship.' ...

The loss of SNAP benefits comes as military members face uncertainty over pay."

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty #military
/7

William Lindsey

"It’s not food insecurity. It’s hunger. About 16 million of those receiving SNAP benefits are children. Another 8.5 million are elderly, and about 4 million are adults with disabilities."

~ Lucian K. Truscott

#Trump #Republicans #shutdown #food #hunger #children #SNAP #USDA #cruelty #elderly #disabled #military
/8

https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/how-i-learned-that-having-enough

How I learned that having enough food to eat should be a right, not a privilege

Blissful ignorance.

Lucian Truscott Newsletter

McQuiniac Oct 29

@wdlindsy #rapistinchief #trump using #snap to pressure #dems to fold on #obamacare subsidies. https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-claims-democrats-blocking-snap-145707019.html #86_47

Lord Tom Klopf of CZ

@wdlindsy another step toward a blue states forming their own union. Federal politics is so polarized the government can’t function. Things will eventually be so disfunctional a constitutional amendment allowing secession will seem plausible.

Adam Rosenberg Oct 29

@wdlindsy It's really sad but when you're 38 trillion dollars in debt, people stop taking your checks!

William Lindsey

@boig The connection between choosing to starve your own people and national debt is what, precisely? Nothing I've read anywhere shows that the decision to withhold food support to US citizens is because the country's checks are not being honored elsewhere. Sounds like a red-herring argument that supports the cruelty of a fascist regime.

Adam Rosenberg Oct 29

@wdlindsy America is out of money. When you have this much debt, and no way to pay it off, you have trouble getting low-cost loans. There's going to be some belt-tightening, sad to say!

William Lindsey

@boig Have you looked at the military budget and the budget for ICE lately? America is not out of money. It chooses where its money goes, as Republicans did with the big, beautiful bill that massively moves wealth up to the already obscenely rich and lavishes grossly disproportionate funds on ICE while removing food support and healthcare coverage for millions of citizens.

Adam Rosenberg Oct 29

@wdlindsy How much money does SNAP require? What about Obamacare? HUD? ICE is not cheap but even if we paid nothing there, America would still be broke. I'm sad to say it because I believe in care for the poor and heartbroken. We are out of bucks though!

William Lindsey

@boig The richest nation in the world, which can lavish billions and billions on ICE and the military and give enormous tax cuts to the super-rich, is out of money, but which can't find money to assure that its citizens don't go hungry is out of money?

Do tell.

@boig @wdlindsy A country is never "out of money". Its debt has nothing to do with a personal debt. Debt for a country is actually a requirement to do absolutely anything, from the first dollar spent.

High debt is only a problem if you don't have growth, the ratio of your interest to budget increases. And if you print more money to compensate, you may increase the inflation.

As for how fast debt increase: Trump cut taxes for the ultra-rich then increased the military budget, and spend a shitload of money on ICE while part of the US economy actually depends on migrant workers. It's not conservatism, it's all out reckless spending.

Cutting SNAP could have rippling effects on the emonomy as that money is spent locally.

And here we're not even mentioning the most embarassing part: a third-world level starvation crisis.

Will the US actually need humanitarian aid??

@boig @wdlindsy LOL what? That is not even remotely close to what is going on here. T-bill rates are under 4%. We can still easily service our debt.

No, what is happening is that the US is delicately refusing to pay its bills in a game of political brinkmanship.

In other words, exactly the opposite.